Copyright© 2007 by School Services of California, Inc.

                                      Volume 20                   For Publication Date: February 2, 2007             No. 3

By the Way . . .
 

Students of For-Profit Colleges May Keep Financial Aid. In the last issue of the Update (see “Vocational Education Enrollment Could Grow for California Community Colleges,” page 20), we discussed the concern that students of for-profit colleges may cease to be eligible for federal financial aid programs if the Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education (Bureau) is discontinued as of July 1, 2007. Since then, the United States Department of Education has announced that federal aid for students of institutions that are individually accredited—which encompasses most of the students at for-profit colleges—will not be at risk.  Those students at risk of losing federal aid are those who are in a few programs for which the only form of oversight is directly from the Bureau, such as cosmetology, acupuncture, and marriage and family therapy. 

The Bureau will no longer exist as of July 1, 2007, unless there is legislation enacted to extend its life. The Governor and Legislature are looking at alternative solutions to address the oversight of these for-profit institutions.